HISTORY REFERENCES Liberia Truth Commission

Abstract Notes on discussions of history, as well as a list of coding themes and references to history in the Liberia Truth Commission.

Chelsea Barranger

Table of Contents Researcher Notes ...... 2 Links to Data Visualization ...... 3 History Coding for the Liberia Report ...... 4 History References ...... 5 History Child Node References ...... 19 Colonialism ...... 19 Human Rights ...... 23 Institutions ...... 26 Legacy ...... 30 Nation ...... 32 Recommendations ...... 37 Reconciliation ...... 39 Refugees ...... 41 Responsibility ...... 43 Socio-political ...... 44 TRC Training ...... 47 Victims ...... 50 Violence ...... 53

Researcher Notes

Report details:

• published in 2009 • pdf has 384 pages • section on the history of the conflict o section is 2 pages • according to NVivo’s text search, the word history (using stems) is referenced 74 times, representing 0.24% coverage • after deleting references from the bibliography, notes or headers, there are 54 broad references to history in the content of the report • history usually mentioned in terms of historical context

History is referenced in the report in the following ways:

• discussions of a violent past • need for reconciliation • commission trying to investigate and determine responsibility for past human rights violations • commissioners underwent training on the history of TRC's, how to take victim testimony and provide support, etc. • breakdown of the history of setting up the truth commission and its witness testimony process • noted that Kenya was and still is a patriarchal society – which places women in vulnerable positions • country needs symbolic reparations in form of memorials and commemoration • discussions of colonial past and its legacy • discussions of land disputes

History and truth are discussed in the following ways:

• nothing explicitly about true or accurate history but the idea of needing to determine responsibility for past crimes for the sake of national development

*All references or history and truth are highlighted

Links to Data Visualization

This section contains links to all data visualization for the Liberia report.

Word Frequency Cloud

• word frequency cloud • excel sheet of word frequency cloud findings

TC Liberia Word Trees

• history • women • children • youth • forgive • victim • truth • reconciliation • land

*NVivo software can only edit word trees by changing the central search term and branch sizes. Word trees includes references from bibliography, headers, and notes that cannot be edited out using NVivo software. Researchers will need to manually remove unsightly branches using editing software (e.g., paint, photoshop, etc.)

History Hierarchy Coding Chart

• history hierarchy coding chart • excel sheet of history hierarchy coding chart results

History Coding for the Liberia Report

The following chart breakdowns the child nodes used for coding history references based on themes and discussions surrounding history in the Liberia report.

History All references or discussions of history in the Liberia report Colonialism References or discussions of colonialism Human rights References or discussions of human rights, human rights laws and human rights violations Institutions References or discussions of institutions (e.g., government, police, military, etc.) Legacy References or discussions of legacy, impacts or lasting effects of past events or violent actions Nation References of discussions of nation, nations, nationalism, and nationals Recommendations References or discussions of commission recommendations Reconciliation References or discussions of reconciliation Refugees References or discussions of refugees, refugee camps, diaspora, etc. Responsibility References or discussions of responsibility or accountability for past event or wrong doings Socio-political References or discussions of socio-political issues TRC training References or discussions of training for truth and reconciliation commissions Victims References or discussions of victims and victim accounts and experiences Violence References or discussions of violence or violent acts

History References

This section contains all references to history from the Liberia report.

- § 54 references coded [1.75% Coverage]

Reference 1 - 0.07% Coverage

Liberia’s triumphant and tortuous history of conflict did not begin in January 1979 or end on October 14, 2003 (the TRC’s temporal mandate period). Rather, the historical antecedents are woven deeply into its troubled socio-political and psychological culture. Until the November 8, 2005, run-off elections and subsequent inauguration of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf as Liberia’s first post conflict democratically-elected president and Africa’s first female democratically-elected president, Liberians were forced to live under various forms of oligarchic, autocratic, militaristic and authoritarian governments. In spite of the challenges of a verdant republic, the unsavory character of its various regime types, as Africa’s first Republic and one of only two independent nations in Africa (Ethiopia being the other) throughout the colonial era, Liberia also served, among other things, as a sanctuary for Africans seeking to escape colonial oppression, an activist African nation while holding the presidency of the UN General Assembly in 1969, and a bulwark advocate against Apartheid in South Africa. Our Country’s troubled and dichotomous history inevitably culminated into nationwide protest, chaos and mass violence in the late 1970’s, a violent coup, military dictatorship and brutal repression in the 1980’s, state breakdown, widespread deadly conflict and warlord politics in the 1990’s, and a resurgence of violent conflict and scandalous corruption in the beginning of the 21st

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1. The conflict in Liberia has its origin in the history and founding of the modern Liberian State.

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From this background, the TRC must not only investigate and determine responsibility for violations of international human rights law (IHRL) and international humanitarian law (IHL) as well as their motives and impact on victims, but also determine the historical antecedents or causes of violent conflict in the country, conduct an audit of Liberian history to offer historical correctives, develop sustainable mechanisms to address gendered and child-based violence and promote national rehabilitation, reconciliation and

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In the final analysis, the TRC sought to ensure that the overall approach to carry out its mandate complemented Liberia’s complex history while simultaneously comporting with domestic, regional and international norms.

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Gyude Bryant and afterward received their commissions from Her Excellency President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf on 20 February 2006. Immediately thereafter, Commissioners underwent various types of training and courses in the history and origin of truth commissions as a form of transitional justice mechanisms, including their functions, goals, objectives and importance in post conflict countries; best practice approaches and experiences of other truth commissions, and human rights and humanitarian law training. Commissioners also received training in the investigation of human rights violations; technical issues in conducting public and in-camera hearings; psychosocial care and support for victims, and others coming before the TRC; conflict prevention and resolution; reparations; and other specialized topics of interest that enabled Commissioners to function within the accepted operational standards of truth commissioners.

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In order to maintain a balanced perspective, a uniform training program was designed with slight modification to suit the particular needs of the TRC Diaspora Project. The Diaspora Project was implemented by the TRC Diaspora partners, the Advocates for Human Rights, formerly Minnesota Advocates For Human Rights based in Minnesota, U.S.A, and closely supervised and co-managed by the TRC. Training modules in the Diaspora were jointly designed and coordinated to mirror as closely as possible the Liberia program. The TRC created a Diaspora Committee, to closely track and monitor the project. Commissioners made periodic visits to the USA and played a leadership role in several training modules on the TRC mandate, transitional justice, the history of Liberia and its various episodes of conflict, the Liberian Constitution, statement-taking and investigation, human rights law and multiculturalism. The Diaspora Project trained over six hundred volunteers to collect statements from Liberians in the USA. This model of training was replicated with competent modifications for the West Africa Diaspora Project. Ten

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Liberian refugees confrontations with the authorities of Ghana unsettled the planned hearings in the West African sub-region. The hearings including seven months of victims’ and witnesses’ testimonies and, to date, four months of actors, thematic and institutional hearings, which provided vital accounts and perspectives under the broader ‚contemporary history of the conflict theme‛. Special considerations have been made to accommodate women, children, elderly, handicap and other vulnerable groups.

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6 testifying under unique circumstances or categories like women, children, the elderly, youth and the handicap. Two victims who fled the country and lived on the Budubram Liberian Refugee Camp in Buduburam, Ghana, testified in Liberia symbolically representing the sub-regional Diaspora community. The Thematic and Institutional hearings featured specific categories such as; women, children, religious, historical review, media, education, youth, religion, culture and tradition, law enforcement, and security. To date, the TRC has heard more than 800 testimonies from witnesses testifying before it.

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This chapter presents the root causes of the Liberian conflict. It identifies the historical antecedents of the various episodes of state breakdown and deadly conflict. Although the TRC has obtained extensive materials on this issue, this initial volume of the report will present a broad overview of the historical factors that lay at the heart of state chaos and violent conflict in Liberia responsible for shaping its socio-political order with a keen understanding that no overview can adequately record Liberia’s long, rich and complex history. Volume II will present a substantially more detailed analysis of these issues.

Reference 10 - 0.01% Coverage one does not do so history will usually judge you, the liberator as having become the new suppressor”… Amb. Rev. Gerald B. Coleman.

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Colonization Society for the first several years of their existence. Although the U.S. government funded much of the American Colonization Society’s efforts, it was clear that the United States never intended to formally establish itself as a colonial power in Liberia. Liberia became a sovereign nation under Americo-Liberian rule in 1847. The indigenous inhabitants of the territory claimed for Liberia were largely antagonistic to the establishment of the Liberian nation. In fact, the American Colonization Society, and later the fledgling Liberian government, was at war with various indigenous tribes over territory and trade routes throughout the 1800s. Liberia’s complex history created a ‚state of contestation‛ which remains today a major source of conflict and disunity. 1.3 History of the Conflict in Liberia

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Liberians have had little faith in judicial institutions to protect their interests or fundamental rights. Inadequate compensation for judicial officers, and the influence of Liberian patrimonial governance structures subjected the judiciary to political, social, familial and financial pressures. In addition, corruption and abuse of power in the security forces went unchecked by the judiciary and the state, leading to further deterioration of the rule of law. The breakdown in the rule of law and a history of pervasive illicit enrichment frustrated those seeking true democratic change in Liberia, and led some to advocate use of force to attain change. These entrenched aspects of life in Liberia exacerbated behavior during the civil conflict. Vigilantism became widespread, as

7 combatants and indigenous victims of the spoilt system used their newfound power to seek revenge for past losses and wanton abuse of power. Looting and theft of property from those perceived as having benefited from the system of illicit enrichment was also commonly reported to the TRC and wide spread during the conflict.

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8. Lack of clarity and understanding of Liberia’s history including its history of conflicts.

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1. The conflict in Liberia has its origin in the history and founding of the modern Liberian State.

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From this background, the TRC must not only investigate and determine those who are responsible for committing EDC, GHRV and SHLV against Liberians, as well as their motives and impact on victims, but also determine the historical antecedents or causes of violent conflict in the country, conduct an audit of Liberian history to offer historical correctives, develop sustainable mechanisms to address gendered and child-based violence and promote national rehabilitation, reconciliation and healing. The TRC Act has only accorded the TRC two years to effectuate its mandate with the ability to request a one year extension. The Liberian National Legislature granted the TRC a nine month extension in September 2008.

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Following a public vetting and recruitment process in late 2005, TRC Commissioners were selected by then transitional Head of State, Gyude Bryant and afterward received their commissions from Her Excellency President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf on 20 February 2006. Immediately thereafter, Commissioners underwent various types of training and courses in the history and origin of truth commissions as a form of transitional justice mechanisms, including their functions, goals, objectives and importance in post conflict countries; best practices approach and experiences of other truth commissions, and human rights and humanitarian law training. Commissioners also received training in the investigation of human rights violations; technical issues in conducting public and in-camera hearings; psychosocial care and support for victims, and others coming before the TRC; conflict prevention and resolution; reparations; and other specialized topics of interest that enabled Commissioners to function within the accepted operational standards of truth commissions.

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In order to maintain a balanced perspective, a uniform training program was designed with slight modification to suit the particular needs of the TRC Diaspora Project. The Diaspora Project was implemented by the TRC Diaspora partners, the Advocates for Human Rights, formerly Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights based in Minnesota, U.S.A, and closely supervised and co-managed by the TRC. Training modules in the Diaspora were jointly designed and coordinated to mirror, as closely as possible, the Liberia program. The TRC created a Diaspora Committee to closely track and monitor the project. Commissioners made periodic visits to the USA and played a leadership role in several training modules on the TRC mandate, transitional justice, the history of Liberia and its various episodes of conflict, the Liberian Constitution, statement-taking and investigation, human rights law and multiculturalism. The Diaspora Project trained over six hundred volunteers to collect statements from Liberians in the USA. This model of training was replicated with competent modifications for the West African Diaspora Project. Ten Liberians residing in the Buduburam Liberian refugee camp in Ghana were trained as statement-takers to assist the TRC to collect statements from Liberians in Ghana. About ten Liberians resident in the Federal Republic of Nigeria were also trained for the TRC project.

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The statement-taking process was followed by Public and In-Camera Hearings in Liberia’s fifteen counties and in the US. Hearings were initially scheduled for West Africa in the Republic of Ghana. Liberian refugees’ confrontations with the authorities of Ghana unsettled the planned hearings in the West African sub-region. The hearings included seven months of victims’ and witnesses’ testimonies and, to date, four months of actors, thematic and institutional hearings, which provided vital accounts and perspectives under the broader ‚contemporary history of the conflict theme‛. Special considerations have been made to accommodate women, children, the elderly, handicap and other vulnerable groups.

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The statement taking process was followed by Public and In-Camera Hearings in the fifteen sub- divisions of the country and in the United States of America representing the Diaspora. The hearings including seven months of victims and witnesses testimonies and to date, three months of perpetrators, thematic and institutional accounts and perspectives under the broader contemporary history of the conflict theme. Unique categories such as women and children were accommodated under this section. Special considerations were made to accommodate individuals testifying under unique circumstances or categories like women, children, the elderly, youth and the handicap. Two victims who fled the country and lived on the Buduburam Liberian Refugee Camp in Buduburam, Ghana, testified in Liberia symbolically representing the sub-regional Diaspora community. The Thematic and

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9 made up the largest single client group seeking assistance for The Advocates’ free asylum services. In addition to providing legal representation to hundreds of Liberians, The Advocates trained dozens of volunteer attorneys to handle Liberian asylum cases. For years, The Advocates also worked through the Building Immigrant Awareness and Support (BIAS) Project to provide training and resource materials to both the Liberian community and to educators in schools with substantial Liberian refugee student populations.

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The first inhabitants of the region may have been Pygmies, or people of small size, referred to in Liberia as ‘Jinna’. There is no recorded history to prove their existence, but they still play an important role in the oral history and the religious life of some of Liberia’s ethnic groups. When the Golas, who are said to be the oldest of the Liberian tribes, travelled from the interior of Central Africa to this West African region they reportedly met these small-sized peoples,who were bushmen and who dwelt in caves and the hollows of large trees, and lived on fruits and roots of wild trees.

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The establishment of the ACS eventually led to the establishment of the Republican State of Liberia that engendered a conflicted relationship between the settlers and indigenous peoples of Liberia. With unsettled motives and objectives, sometimes conflicting, the ACS mission sought to impose culture, religion, economic, social and political standards on a nation of people of diverse identities. Central to understanding the socio-political conflict and its degeneration into armed conflict in the evolving history of Liberia is the choice made by the early leadership of Liberia from colony, to commonwealth and statehood. It was a choice of purpose or political direction for the new enterprise.

Reference 24 - 0.02% Coverage known in Liberian history as Zoda, King Long Peter, a Gola, and King Jimmy, probably a Dein and the Dei King Bah Gwogro known in Liberian history as George. The deed was issued in the name of the ACS and Ayres and Stockton signed for the ACS; John S. Mills, a mulatto, (Millsburg) and John Craig witness the agreement. The promises made for additional payment was never made and part of what was paid was later taken back.

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Jehudi Ashmun became agent and took steps to lease, annex or buy tribal lands along the coast and the inland through aggressive means. Soon the Mesurado Colony was consolidated and expanded to what later became the colony of Liberia. Commenting on these events, Richard West, author of ‚Back to Africa: A History of Sierra Leone and Liberia‛(1970) asserts that:

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10 natives. A case in point, Article 23, of the Colony’s Digest of Laws in 1824 provided; ‚no colonist shall deal with the natives for land‛. This provision continued in the Commonwealth and Republican Constitutions until the republic became history in 1980 (also Article V, Section 14, constitution of Liberia). Thanksgiving Day was celebrated by the settlers to thank God for their ‚victories‛ over the natives in 1822.

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In the unfolding process of colonization and settlement in Pre-Liberia, two world views had to be confronted. One was to forge a nation by attempting to subdue all resistance and Americanize the Grain Coast. The other perspective held that the repatriate Africans should live alongside the natives, each mutually influencing and learning from the other and together building a common patrimony. There have been advocates for this perspective throughout the history of Liberia. Liberia has yet to accomplish the objective of the Africanization of the Republic of Liberia. Thus we labor, even today, amid dualisms – statutory and customary law; Poro/Sande and modern education; outward looking security norms ignoring regional and continental realities; land as communal property versus land in fee simple, etc.

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The process was slow. The Liberia of President Joseph J Roberts and his successors demonstrated political competition within a circumscribed elite core with a majority of the population either as ‚subjects‛ or decidedly on the socio-political periphery. Liberia’s civilized core contrasted to its indigenous periphery. Consistent with inherited autocracy from the colonial era, and in harmony with the founding myth, the periphery would enter the core in keeping with assimilation strategies or when fully socialized into the culture of the core. The implications were at once political and social. The political arrangement was thus characterized by presidential ascendancy in a tripartite system that included a legislature and a system of courts. Though there was occasional openness to allow limited entry from the periphery, this consideration was not applicable to the presidency. Vice President Henry Too Wesley, a Grebo- Liberian and the first indigenous vice president in the country’s history was unceremoniously dropped from the ticket at the end of President C.D.B. King’s second term in 1928 in favor of the notorious Allen Yancy who was the lead culprit in the contract labor scandal that brought down the King administration in 1930. Presidents King and Edwin Barclay effectively frustrated Consul General Albert Momolu Massaquoi, a Vai-Liberian, in his own presidential quests. And the Kru-Liberian politician Didhwo Twe had to flee the country twice (1930s and 1950s) to escape the wrath of Presidents Barclay and Tubman. Jackson F Doe who stood in line to become vice standard bearer and vice president of Liberia was passed over by President Tolbert twice at the TWP convention in favor of VP Greene and VP Warner after Greene’s death.

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11 coming to power when a post-war international order would force Liberia out of its isolation into a deeper relationship with its neighbors, with all of the implications that carried for a settler- dominated government’s relationship to the country’s indigenous majority. African decolonization and the Cold War, would in their combined impact, shine light on human rights issues in Liberia in ways that forced the Liberian people to confront their founding paradigm, the building of a ‚little America‛ in Africa, and the corresponding marginalization of the indigenous majority. The trickle of Liberians going abroad largely for education, and the corresponding small numbers of foreigners that came into Liberia soon became a flood of sorts. Liberians educated abroad or coming under the influence of a flood of foreigners, particularly American Peace Corps volunteers and progressive missionaries opened the doors to the contestations for civil and political rights in a way that has yet to be fully documented. A History of the Episcopal Church in Liberia (1992) sheds some light on the missionary factor.

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These repressive measures began to take hold, when President Tubman's first term of office was about to expire. For the third time in Liberian history, the presidential term of office was amended in the Liberian constitution. In 1951, President Tubman rammed through the True Whig Party-controlled Legislature, an amendment which removed the 1935 clause that limited the presidential term office to one eight-year term. The new constitutional clause called for eight years for the first term, and four years for succeeding terms of office. The political party that challenged this constitutional amendment was the Reformation Party, which was headed by Didho Twe, an indigenous Liberian from the Kru nation, whom President Tubman called, a "man with premedieval mind.", and the Independent True Whig Party, which was led by former President Edwin Barclay. Tubman had this to say about Twe:

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But, history was not on the side of the opposition. When the ballots for the 1955 election were counted, President Tubman scored a lopsided victory. The final results were: President Tubman, 244,873 votes; former President Barclay, 1,182 votes. This means that President Tubman received 99.5 percent of the vote. The ITWP responded to the outcome by charging the True Whig Party with vote rigging, and lodged complaints with the True Whig party controlled Legislature. The charges were rejected.

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The defining moment for Tolbert and for Liberia came on April 14, 1979, ‚the day Monrovia stood still.‛ A political history in excess of 130 years was brought to a head. Deeply felt alienation and a strong sense of gross social injustice were on public display. Tolbert understood the depths of feelings but was timid in handling the situation, thinking perhaps that the politics of splitting the difference (mass grievance versus the ‚sacred heritage‛) would suffice. Perhaps the full import of what was happening did not hit him until he literally heard the coup in progress, spoke to a few people by telephone, and awaited his fate.

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The Liberian civil war would best be remembered for a long time to come, not simply for the several thousands of lives it claimed – which will surely remain one of the sordid points of the country’s checkered history – but for the carnage and the sheer brutality that characterized the war. The horrors of the Liberian war were abhorrent to the sensibilities of all and intolerable as collateral or inevitable consequence of war. According to Stephen Ellis, ‚the Liberian conflict topped and surpassed all other wars in form and character, in intensity, in depravity, in savagery, in barbarism and in horror‛.

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Diaspora Statement Taking Experience: In Liberia, statement-takers were Liberians paid by the TRC, but statement takers in the Diaspora were all unpaid volunteers recruited from pro bono affiliates. Most were non-Liberian, but Liberians were welcomed to the process, and several did complete the training and participated as statement takers. In addition to reviewing a 400-page training manual, all volunteers were required to complete a nine-hour in-depth training program. Volunteer trainings were held in all project locations; volunteers who were unable to attend could also complete the training by viewing video replay of the sessions which remain available on-line. Volunteer statement takers received training on the mandate of the TRC, the history of Liberia and the conflict, international human rights and humanitarian law, statement-taking protocols and policies, interviewing survivors of torture and war trauma, avoiding vicarious trauma, and cultural considerations for working with Liberians. All training sessions included a mock TRC statement interview facilitated by The Advocates’ staff and a Liberian volunteer. Trainers included The Advocates’ staff, Commissioners, psychologists, Liberian professionals and community leaders, as well as academics.

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Public hearings are an essential component of the TRC work. Employed for its catalytic and revealing purposes, it provided an opportunity for individual victims and perpetrators to have their experiences officially heard by the state and recognized as part of the Liberian national experience. The opportunity was provided individuals to tell stories and expose the underlining causes and trends of the conflict. The hearings also generated state sponsored – national - empathy, and an understanding from the people and Nation, the Commissioners and policymakers of the conflicts and its varied trends. By satisfying these objectives, the hearings stimulated national public debates and pushed issues of the conflict, repairing victims, perpetrators’ accountability, impunity, root causes of the conflict, etc. squarely into the public consciousness. Lastly, the public hearings helped to build in society the capacity to distinguish the truth of the past from lies about it, which is essential to building a stable political future. The TRC hearings assumed a dynamic of its own which warranted hearings taking on varying forms, exuding different outcomes. The hearings were – In-camera or Public Hearings; Victims or perpetrators; Contemporary History of the Conflict; Thematic or Institutional Hearings; county or Diaspora Hearings. The hearings included seven months of victims’ and witnesses’ testimonies and, to date, four months of actors, thematic and institutional hearings, and accounts and perspectives under the broader ‚contemporary history of the conflict‛ theme. Special consideration was made to accommodate women, children, the elderly, people with disabilities

13 and other vulnerable groups. To date, the TRC heard more than 800 testimonies from witnesses testifying before it, under the theme: “Confronting Our difficult Past for a Better Future.”

Reference 36 - 0.05% Coverage hearings specifically looked at how the conflict uniquely effected or was affected by thematic elements of the conflict; such as motivations, inherent root causes, and the role of specific elements of our society. It provided a great opportunity for experts to lend their opinions on the roles that different components of the war played in the conflict. These experts spoke extensively about structural, historic and systemic patterns of violence; its causes and impact, on the state, victims and institutions, and sometimes international relationship. While victim hearings were personalized narratives, the thematic hearings were not about the personal experiences of the presenters, but the society as a whole. This nuanced version of history will seek to incorporate various levels of a national history that blend the stories of a diverse range of victims and perpetrators. Thematic hearings included: historical review, contemporary history of the conflict, women, children, the role of religious and traditional institutions, the media, youth, security, etc.

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Yet still, Monrovia was the venue for thematic and institutional hearings including the hearings on the ‚contemporary history of the conflict‛. At each county hearing for victims, a day was reserved for institutional and thematic hearings specific to the county in which the hearings were being held.

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Training, awareness, and sensitization were incorporated into the TRC strategy to educate the people on all aspects of the Commission’s work. Such broad and comprehensive information facilitates direct face-to-face dissemination of information from one person to another, an effective medium of education for communities, organizations and institutions on the work of the TRC. Community members were sensitized on the history of the TRC, Statement Taking Process, Expectations, Confidentiality, Security, Human Rights, Amnesty, Prosecution, Reparation, & Reconciliation. Other areas were Hearings, Psychosocial Support services, community outreach strategy, Goals of the TRC, the CCC and events like the CRC, NCR, research projects, etc. Such goals, if always emphasized, are meant to educate the Liberian people on the TRC, gather support and inputs from the people, inform the TRC report and recommendation generating processes, make sure that community members would use their knowledge, influence and standing to advocate for the implementation of the recommendations, ensuring that the work of

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Liberian civil war – especially cannibalism (eating of human flesh by humans), disembowelment of pregnant women undoubtedly take the meaning of war crime/crime against humanity to another level and stretches the tolerance of mankind of war atrocities. According to Stephen Ellis, ‚the Liberian conflict topped and surpassed all other wars in form and character, in intensity, in depravity, in savagery, in barbarism and in horror. Whilst the Liberian experience may find parallels in history, the description above points to barbarity in modern times which by all standards are repugnant to the human conscience.

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Christian faith, the land was inhabited by tribes and societies that practiced indigenous traditional religions as well as the faith of Islam. Although it is generally recognized that a majority of Liberians profess to align themselves with Christianity, there is extensive intermingling of traditional and faith-based practices among religious participants such that the faith of many Liberians is blended and integrates elements of both indigenous traditional and religious practices. Nonetheless, the prevailing historical narrative of Liberia is from a distinctively Christian perspective that has failed to recognize and accommodate the full breadth of Liberia’s diverse religious and Traditional communities and their significant influences on the distinctive history and formation of a Liberian identity.

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Scholars point to religious and Traditional communities as having a reliance on political leaders of their respective eras. The case of Presidents Tubman and Charles Taylor dominating the affairs their respective Christian denominations and at the same time playing leadership roles in the traditional societies was common. This is an attribute of the conflict with deeper roots in the Liberian political history of patronage. Likewise, these religious and Traditional institutions received patronage and otherwise benefited from their relationship with ‚the President‛.

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The engendered political culture was transferred to the successor leaderships, and became ingrained into the national polity. Although the alternate and more inclusive vision had proponents, it never gained political traction. The civilizing and christianizing ethos has thus dominated political discourse and served as the foundation of the Liberian state. Circumstances encountered seem not to have led to a change of direction, so that after 187 years as a political entity and some 162 years of political independence, Liberia has yet to reconcile the two opposing ideas – the civilizing mission and the building of an African nationality- and peoples – descendents of the Americo-Liberians and descendents of the Indigenous or native people. Conflict in the history of Liberia, including the violent variety, is thus to be understood in terms of the choices once made exclusively by the Liberian leadership, and which is now opened to the people of Liberia as a whole.

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Liberia’s checkered history is replete with conflicts as we have narrated above. During the pre- colonial period, there were many conflicts and wars between the natives themselves until the colonial period from 1822-1847 when the settlers intervened and a crisis of different dimension surfaced. After independence in 1847 the new state of Liberia had its own set of conflicts bordering on legitimacy, inclusion and identity, land, and struggle for supremacy. For over a century

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Through this description of social formation in Liberia before and during any of the numerous conflicts which have checkered its history over one and a half centuries, it is clear that the Liberian society was and still is endocentric and patriarchal. Although women were valued and held specific gender roles within which some power could be located, there was no inherent power that could place a woman into

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Newspapers, magazines, periodicals and internet resources on the conflict, the history of Liberia and human rights violations occurring in Liberia during the period 1979 to 2003.

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The TRC also recommends that considering the history of land disputes and the well established fact that the colonialists of the ACS and pioneers of the Liberian Government acquired by force from the natives, that the JJ Roberts trust fund established by former president JJ Roberts for the education of the “children of Monrovia” be nationalized and the proceeds therefrom be utilized for the education of the Liberian children.

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The TRC recommends that given the political history of Liberia, economic and political decentralization is both imperative and an urgent matter of national concern that the government should take all measures to ensure that by the time of the 2011 elections, all issues of decentralization are placed within the public domain for implementation.

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The TRC also recommends that such words that connote divisions among our people inherent in our mutual mistrusts and misunderstanding of each other be also outlawed to overcome over a century of history of exclusion, marginalization, inferiority and superiority complexes. Such outlawed cleavages shall include references like „country man or congo man, native man or native woman, country chicken, country cloth, country rice, country pepper, bush man or bush woman, lappa woman, heathens, the interior, hinterland, bush meat, bush chicken, country people, country girl, disappointed African, America-Liberians, Ecomog baby, Ecomog baby, Asian bastards, bastards etc. in derision of indigenous contributions

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The TRC recommends also that in further strengthening of national integration and unity, that every Liberian makes the effort through exposure to all the cultures and traditions of our people in schools, social institutions, etc. to underscore that while certain cultures are predisposed to certain practices and are inclined or disinclined to other practices because of history, experience, etc. we should avoid stereotyping, change our minds and attitudes, and stop asking people what is your tribe, or saying such other nasty things like „bassa man can steal, kpelle people are stupid, bassa people sold their land for smoke fish, krahn people eat charcoal and human beings, grand gedeh people have no grave, kru people are rude and hostile, peace was in heaven before kru man entered, lorma people are blind followers, vai people like money and court business and are lazy, gio and mano people like security and killing business, they undermine people and are disloyal, Maryland people like ritualistic killing (they are gboyo people), congo people are fetish, incestuous and corrupt, gola people are mean, bassa women are prostitutes, mandingos and fulas are not citizens, all muslims are mandingos, all mandingos are from Guinea, all Ghanaians are Fanti, Freetown is Sierra Leone, etc.

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We acknowledge the recent, difficult chapter in our national history. We stand together and share in the pains of victims. We acknowledge that the wounds are deep and the pains are breathless. Yet we stand together, both perpetrators and victims, forgiving and seeking forgiveness of each other, embracing each other in the true spirit of reconciliation and love once more. Recognizing all of this, we remain cognizant of the fact that justice and accountability are necessary for true reconciliation and national healing.

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21. That a historical review commission be established to review Liberia’s history and produce a version of it that reflects the lives of the people met here by the settlers in 1822.

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This report determines that through the investigations of the TRC, many of the causes and origins of violence against women during wartime are rooted in the socio-cultural, traditional and political history of Liberia. It is also firmly linked to the low socio-political status of women, with the added perception of male superiority. This rendered women and girls extremely vulnerable to exploitation and violence during both war and peace. It has also taken into account the multiplicity and complexity of women’s roles in the armed conflict, recognizing that women took on the added roles of perpetrator, collaborator as well as peacemaker and mediator.

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17 renaming of public facilities in the names of victims, and other artistic/cultural endeavors. Collective memories built around war and violence play an important role in the process of rebuilding positive ties between the different segments of a society. Particularly crucial in such a process are the public and private rituals and narratives that sustain collective and individual memories of the history,

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The TRC’s engagement with the media considered certain realities as expressed in the three day workshop spent with panelists assessing today’s media culture in the country, from the level of press freedom to the many challenges at hand and the media’s readiness to contribute to the process of national development and reconstruction. There was a consensus that the press in Liberia (print and broadcast) is perhaps at its most difficult period in history, plagued by a myriad of issues resulting from the fourteen year civil war. As panelist Abdullai Kamara of the group, Journalists for Human Rights, put it, “Like all other sectors of Liberia, the media was completely devastated…” by the conflict. The ensuing problems could be summarized into the following sub-topics:

History Child Node References

The following section contains history references from the Liberia report organized by the child nodes outlined in History Coding for the Liberia Report. Some references appear under several subheadings since they contained discussions of multiple themes.

Colonialism References or discussions of colonialism

- § 14 references coded [0.49% Coverage]

Reference 1 - 0.07% Coverage

Reference 2 - 0.04% Coverage

Reference 3 - 0.03% Coverage

Reference 4 - 0.03% Coverage

Reference 5 - 0.02% Coverage known in Liberian history as Zoda, King Long Peter, a Gola, and King Jimmy, probably a Dein and the Dei King Bah Gwogro known in Liberian history as George. The deed was issued in the name of the ACS and Ayres and Stockton signed for the ACS; John S. Mills, a mulatto, (Millsburg) and John Craig witness the agreement. The promises made for additional payment was never made and part of what was paid was later taken back.

Reference 6 - 0.02% Coverage

Reference 7 - 0.02% Coverage natives. A case in point, Article 23, of the Colony’s Digest of Laws in 1824 provided; ‚no colonist shall deal with the natives for land‛. This provision continued in the Commonwealth and Republican Constitutions until the republic became history in 1980 (also Article V, Section 14, constitution of Liberia). Thanksgiving Day was celebrated by the settlers to thank God for their ‚victories‛ over the natives in 1822.

Reference 8 - 0.08% Coverage

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Tubman built upon what he inherited from Arthur Barclay and others in respect of traditional authoritative structures. Once he acquired full control of the TWP political machine after 1955, he proceeded to manipulate interethnic political cleavages, by eventually establishing himself as the supreme ‚paramount chief.‛ Tubman was perhaps the last of the repatriate hegemonic leaders, coming to power when a post-war international order would force Liberia out of its isolation into a deeper relationship with its neighbors, with all of the implications that carried for a settler- dominated government’s relationship to the country’s indigenous majority. African decolonization and the Cold War, would in their combined impact, shine light on human rights issues in Liberia in ways that forced the Liberian people to confront their founding paradigm, the building of a ‚little America‛ in Africa, and the corresponding marginalization of the indigenous majority. The trickle of Liberians going abroad largely for education, and the corresponding small numbers of foreigners that came into Liberia soon became a flood of sorts. Liberians educated abroad or coming under the influence of a flood of foreigners, particularly American Peace Corps volunteers and progressive missionaries opened the doors to the contestations for civil and political rights in a way that has yet to be fully documented. A History of the Episcopal Church in Liberia (1992) sheds some light on the missionary factor.

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21 years for the first term, and four years for succeeding terms of office. The political party that challenged this constitutional amendment was the Reformation Party, which was headed by Didho Twe, an indigenous Liberian from the Kru nation, whom President Tubman called, a "man with premedieval mind.", and the Independent True Whig Party, which was led by former President Edwin Barclay. Tubman had this to say about Twe: “Does Mr. Twe not further

Reference 11 - 0.02% Coverage

Reference 12 - 0.04% Coverage

Reference 13 - 0.02% Coverage

Reference 14 - 0.02% Coverage

Human Rights References or discussions of human rights, human rights laws and human rights violations

- § 8 references coded [0.32% Coverage]

Reference 1 - 0.02% Coverage

Reference 2 - 0.04% Coverage

Reference 3 - 0.05% Coverage

Reference 4 - 0.05% Coverage

Reference 5 - 0.06% Coverage

In order to maintain a balanced perspective, a uniform training program was designed with slight modification to suit the particular needs of the TRC Diaspora Project. The Diaspora Project was implemented by the TRC Diaspora partners, the Advocates for Human Rights, formerly Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights based in Minnesota, U.S.A, and closely supervised and co-managed by the TRC. Training modules in the Diaspora were jointly designed and coordinated to mirror, as closely as possible, the Liberia program. The TRC created a Diaspora Committee to closely track and monitor the project. Commissioners made periodic visits to the USA and played a leadership role in several training modules on the TRC mandate, transitional justice, the history of Liberia and its various episodes of conflict, the Liberian Constitution, statement-taking and investigation, human rights law and multiculturalism. The Diaspora Project trained over six hundred volunteers to collect statements from Liberians in the USA. This model of training was replicated with competent modifications for the West African Diaspora Project. Ten Liberians residing in the Buduburam Liberian refugee camp in Ghana were trained as statement-takers to assist the TRC to collect statements from Liberians in Ghana. About ten Liberians resident in the Federal Republic of Nigeria were also trained for the TRC project.

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Trainers included The Advocates’ staff, Commissioners, psychologists, Liberian professionals and community leaders, as well as academics.

Reference 7 - 0.01% Coverage

Newspapers, magazines, periodicals and internet resources on the conflict, the history of Liberia and human rights violations occurring in Liberia during the period 1979 to 2003.

Reference 8 - 0.03% Coverage

Institutions References or discussions of institutions (e.g., government, police, military, etc.)

- § 12 references coded [0.40% Coverage]

Reference 1 - 0.07% Coverage

Reference 2 - 0.02% Coverage

Reference 3 - 0.03% Coverage

Reference 4 - 0.05% Coverage

Reference 5 - 0.02% Coverage

Reference 6 - 0.03% Coverage

Reference 7 - 0.05% Coverage hearings specifically looked at how the conflict uniquely effected or was affected by thematic elements of the conflict; such as motivations, inherent root causes, and the role of specific elements of our society. It provided a great opportunity for experts to lend their opinions on the roles that different components of the war played in the conflict. These experts spoke extensively about structural, historic and systemic patterns of violence; its causes and impact, on the state, victims and institutions, and sometimes international relationship. While victim hearings were personalized narratives, the thematic hearings were not about the personal experiences of the presenters, but the society as a whole. This nuanced version of history will seek to incorporate various levels of a national history that blend the stories of a diverse range of victims and

27 perpetrators. Thematic hearings included: historical review, contemporary history of the conflict, women, children, the role of religious and traditional institutions, the media, youth, security, etc.

Reference 8 - 0.01% Coverage

Reference 9 - 0.04% Coverage

Reference 10 - 0.03% Coverage the prosecution of armed conflict. Scholars point to religious and Traditional communities as having a reliance on political leaders of their respective eras. The case of Presidents Tubman and Charles Taylor dominating the affairs their respective Christian denominations and at the same time playing leadership roles in the traditional societies was common. This is an attribute of the conflict with deeper roots in the Liberian political history of patronage. Likewise, these religious and Traditional institutions received patronage and otherwise benefited from their relationship with ‚the President‛.

Reference 11 - 0.04% Coverage

Reference 12 - 0.02% Coverage

Legacy References or discussions of legacy, impacts or lasting effects of past events or violent actions

- § 5 references coded [0.18% Coverage]

Reference 1 - 0.05% Coverage

Reference 2 - 0.03% Coverage

Reference 3 - 0.03% Coverage

Reference 4 - 0.03% Coverage

Reference 5 - 0.04% Coverage

It is trite and banal to assert that war brings with it dastardly, carnage, wanton destruction of lives and properties. It is even common to accept that despite the prohibition of certain practices as war weapons – e.g starvation – it is not implausible for the human psychology to tolerate these occurrences as inevitable consequences of war. However, the species of crimes committed in the Liberian civil war – especially cannibalism (eating of human flesh by humans), disembowelment of pregnant women undoubtedly take the meaning of war crime/crime against humanity to another level and stretches the tolerance of mankind of war atrocities. According to Stephen Ellis, ‚the Liberian conflict topped and surpassed all other wars in form and character, in intensity, in depravity, in savagery, in barbarism and in horror. Whilst the Liberian experience may find parallels in history, the description above points to barbarity in modern times which by all standards are repugnant to the human conscience.

Nation References of discussions of nation, nations, nationalism, and nationals

- § 15 references coded [0.54% Coverage]

Reference 1 - 0.07% Coverage

Reference 2 - 0.04% Coverage

Reference 3 - 0.01% Coverage

1. The conflict in Liberia has its origin in the history and founding of the modern Liberian State.

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Reference 6 - 0.02% Coverage known in Liberian history as Zoda, King Long Peter, a Gola, and King Jimmy, probably a Dein and the Dei King Bah Gwogro known in Liberian history as George. The deed was issued in the name of the ACS and Ayres and Stockton signed for the ACS; John S. Mills, a mulatto, (Millsburg) and John Craig witness the agreement. The promises made for additional payment was never made and part of what was paid was later taken back.

Reference 7 - 0.03% Coverage confronted. One was to forge a nation by attempting to subdue all resistance and Americanize the Grain Coast. The other perspective held that the repatriate Africans should live alongside the natives, each mutually influencing and learning from the other and together building a common patrimony. There have been advocates for this perspective throughout the history of Liberia. Liberia has yet to accomplish the objective of the Africanization of the Republic of Liberia. Thus we labor, even today, amid dualisms – statutory and customary law; Poro/Sande and modern education; outward looking security norms ignoring regional and continental realities; land as communal property versus land in fee simple, etc.

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33 empathy, and an understanding from the people and Nation, the Commissioners and policymakers of the conflicts and its varied trends. By satisfying these objectives, the hearings stimulated national public debates and pushed issues of the conflict, repairing victims, perpetrators’ accountability, impunity, root causes of the conflict, etc. squarely into the public consciousness. Lastly, the public hearings helped to build in society the capacity to distinguish the truth of the past from lies about it, which is essential to building a stable political future. The TRC hearings assumed a dynamic of its own which warranted hearings taking on varying forms, exuding different outcomes. The hearings were – In-camera or Public Hearings; Victims or perpetrators; Contemporary History of the Conflict; Thematic or Institutional Hearings; county or Diaspora Hearings. The hearings included seven months of victims’ and witnesses’ testimonies and, to date, four months of actors, thematic and institutional hearings, and accounts and perspectives under the broader ‚contemporary history of the conflict‛ theme. Special consideration was made to accommodate women, children, the elderly, people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups. To date, the TRC heard more than 800 testimonies from witnesses testifying before it, under the theme: “Confronting Our difficult Past for a Better Future.”

Reference 9 - 0.05% Coverage hearings specifically looked at how the conflict uniquely effected or was affected by thematic elements of the conflict; such as motivations, inherent root causes, and the role of specific elements of our society. It provided a great opportunity for experts to lend their opinions on the roles that different components of the war played in the conflict. These experts spoke extensively about structural, historic and systemic patterns of violence; its causes and impact, on the state, victims and institutions, and sometimes international relationship. While victim hearings were personalized narratives, the thematic hearings were not about the personal experiences of the presenters, but the society as a whole. This nuanced version of history will seek to incorporate various levels of a national history that blend the stories of a diverse range of victims and perpetrators. Thematic hearings included: historical review, contemporary history of the conflict, women, children, the role of religious and traditional institutions, the media, youth, security, etc.

Reference 10 - 0.04% Coverage

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35 myriad of issues resulting from the fourteen year civil war. As panelist Abdullai Kamara of the group, Journalists for Human Rights, put it, “Like all other sectors of Liberia, the media was completely devastated…” by the conflict. The ensuing problems could be summarized into the following sub-topics:

Recommendations References or discussions of commission recommendations

- § 5 references coded [0.15% Coverage]

Reference 1 - 0.02% Coverage

Reference 2 - 0.02% Coverage

Reference 3 - 0.03% Coverage

Reference 4 - 0.06% Coverage

37 are not citizens, all muslims are mandingos, all mandingos are from Guinea, all Ghanaians are Fanti, Freetown is Sierra Leone, etc.

Reference 5 - 0.03% Coverage

The increased recognition of memorialization within the transitional justice field is exemplified by the recommendations made by various truth commission reports, which endorse the idea of symbolic reparations in the form of memorials, sites of memory, commemorative days, the renaming of public facilities in the names of victims, and other artistic/cultural endeavors. Collective memories built around war and violence play an important role in the process of rebuilding positive ties between the different segments of a society. Particularly crucial in such a process are the public and private rituals and narratives that sustain collective and individual memories of the history,

Reconciliation References or discussions of reconciliation

- § 5 references coded [0.11% Coverage]

Reference 1 - 0.02% Coverage

Reference 2 - 0.03% Coverage

Reference 3 - 0.02% Coverage

Reference 4 - 0.02% Coverage

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39 other, embracing each other in the true spirit of reconciliation and love once more. Recognizing all of this, we remain cognizant of the fact that justice and accountability are necessary for true reconciliation and national healing.

Refugees References or discussions of refugees, refugee camps, diaspora, etc.

- § 4 references coded [0.19% Coverage]

Reference 1 - 0.06% Coverage

In order to maintain a balanced perspective, a uniform training program was designed with slight modification to suit the particular needs of the TRC Diaspora Project. The Diaspora Project was implemented by the TRC Diaspora partners, the Advocates for Human Rights, formerly Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights based in Minnesota, U.S.A, and closely supervised and co-managed by the TRC. Training modules in the Diaspora were jointly designed and coordinated to mirror, as closely as possible, the Liberia program. The TRC created a Diaspora Committee to closely track and monitor the project. Commissioners made periodic visits to the USA and played a leadership role in several training modules on the TRC mandate, transitional justice, the history of Liberia and its various episodes of conflict, the Liberian Constitution, statement-taking and investigation, human rights law and multiculturalism. The Diaspora Project trained over six hundred volunteers to collect statements from Liberians in the USA. This model of training was replicated with competent modifications for the West African Diaspora Project. Ten Liberians residing in the Buduburam Liberian refugee camp in Ghana were trained as statement-takers to assist the TRC to collect statements from Liberians in Ghana. About ten Liberians resident in the Federal Republic of Nigeria were also trained for the TRC project.

Reference 2 - 0.04% Coverage

Reference 3 - 0.04% Coverage

The Advocates, which is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has a long history of working with the Liberian Diaspora. Minnesota is home to what may be the largest population of Liberians living outside of West Africa. Liberians fleeing the conflict in the nineteen-nineties made up the largest single client group seeking assistance for The Advocates’ free asylum services. In addition to providing legal representation to hundreds of Liberians, The Advocates trained dozens of volunteer attorneys to handle Liberian asylum cases. For years, The Advocates also worked through the Building Immigrant Awareness and Support (BIAS) Project to provide

41 training and resource materials to both the Liberian community and to educators in schools with substantial Liberian refugee student populations.

Reference 4 - 0.06% Coverage

Responsibility References or discussions of responsibility or accountability for past event or wrong doings

- § 3 references coded [0.06% Coverage]

Reference 1 - 0.01% Coverage one does not do so history will usually judge you, the liberator as having become the new suppressor”… Amb. Rev. Gerald B. Coleman.

Reference 2 - 0.03% Coverage

Reference 3 - 0.02% Coverage

Socio-political References or discussions of socio-political issues

- § 8 references coded [0.34% Coverage]

Reference 1 - 0.07% Coverage

Reference 2 - 0.03% Coverage

Reference 3 - 0.04% Coverage

44 education; outward looking security norms ignoring regional and continental realities; land as communal property versus land in fee simple, etc.

Reference 4 - 0.08% Coverage

Reference 5 - 0.03% Coverage

Reference 6 - 0.03% Coverage the prosecution of armed conflict. Scholars point to religious and Traditional communities as having a reliance on political leaders of their respective eras. The case of Presidents Tubman and Charles Taylor dominating the affairs their respective Christian denominations and at the same time playing leadership roles in the traditional societies was common. This is an attribute of the conflict with deeper roots in the Liberian political history of patronage. Likewise, these religious and Traditional institutions received patronage and otherwise benefited from their relationship with ‚the President‛.

Reference 7 - 0.04% Coverage

Reference 8 - 0.03% Coverage

TRC Training References or discussions of training for truth and reconciliation commissions

- § 8 references coded [0.37% Coverage]

Reference 1 - 0.04% Coverage

Reference 2 - 0.05% Coverage

Reference 3 - 0.05% Coverage

47 victims, and others coming before the TRC; conflict prevention and resolution; reparations; and other specialized topics of interest that enabled Commissioners to function within the accepted operational standards of truth commissions.

Reference 4 - 0.06% Coverage

In order to maintain a balanced perspective, a uniform training program was designed with slight modification to suit the particular needs of the TRC Diaspora Project. The Diaspora Project was implemented by the TRC Diaspora partners, the Advocates for Human Rights, formerly Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights based in Minnesota, U.S.A, and closely supervised and co-managed by the TRC. Training modules in the Diaspora were jointly designed and coordinated to mirror, as closely as possible, the Liberia program. The TRC created a Diaspora Committee to closely track and monitor the project. Commissioners made periodic visits to the USA and played a leadership role in several training modules on the TRC mandate, transitional justice, the history of Liberia and its various episodes of conflict, the Liberian Constitution, statement-taking and investigation, human rights law and multiculturalism. The Diaspora Project trained over six hundred volunteers to collect statements from Liberians in the USA. This model of training was replicated with competent modifications for the West African Diaspora Project. Ten Liberians residing in the Buduburam Liberian refugee camp in Ghana were trained as statement-takers to assist the TRC to collect statements from Liberians in Ghana. About ten Liberians resident in the Federal Republic of Nigeria were also trained for the TRC project.

Reference 5 - 0.03% Coverage

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Victims References or discussions of victims and victim accounts and experiences

- § 10 references coded [0.40% Coverage]

Reference 1 - 0.04% Coverage

Reference 2 - 0.02% Coverage

Reference 3 - 0.05% Coverage

The statement taking process was followed by Public and In Camera Hearings in the fifteen sub- divisions of the country and in the United States of America representing the Diaspora. The hearings including seven months of victims and witnesses testimonies and to date, three months of perpetrators, thematic and institutional accounts and perspectives under the broader contemporary history of the conflict theme. Unique categories such as women and children were accommodated under this section. Special considerations were made to accommodate individuals testifying under unique circumstances or categories like women, children, the elderly, youth and the handicap. Two victims who fled the country and lived on the Budubram Liberian Refugee Camp in Buduburam, Ghana, testified in Liberia symbolically representing the sub-regional Diaspora community. The Thematic and Institutional hearings featured specific categories such as; women, children, religious, historical review, media, education, youth, religion, culture and tradition, law enforcement, and security. To date, the TRC has heard more than 800 testimonies from witnesses testifying before it.

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51 accommodated under this section. Special considerations were made to accommodate individuals testifying under unique circumstances or categories like women, children, the elderly, youth and the handicap. Two victims who fled the country and lived on the Buduburam Liberian Refugee Camp in Buduburam, Ghana, testified in Liberia symbolically representing the sub-regional Diaspora community. The Thematic and

Reference 8 - 0.08% Coverage

Reference 9 - 0.01% Coverage

Reference 10 - 0.02% Coverage

Violence References or discussions of violence or violent acts

- § 12 references coded [0.45% Coverage]

Reference 1 - 0.07% Coverage

Reference 2 - 0.02% Coverage

Reference 3 - 0.03% Coverage

Reference 4 - 0.05% Coverage

Reference 5 - 0.01% Coverage

8. Lack of clarity and understanding of Liberia’s history including its history of conflicts.

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It is trite and banal to assert that war brings with it dastardly, carnage, wanton destruction of lives and properties. It is even common to accept that despite the prohibition of certain practices

54 as war weapons – e.g starvation – it is not implausible for the human psychology to tolerate these occurrences as inevitable consequences of war. However, the species of crimes committed in the Liberian civil war – especially cannibalism (eating of human flesh by humans), disembowelment of pregnant women undoubtedly take the meaning of war crime/crime against humanity to another level and stretches the tolerance of mankind of war atrocities. According to Stephen Ellis, ‚the Liberian conflict topped and surpassed all other wars in form and character, in intensity, in depravity, in savagery, in barbarism and in horror. Whilst the Liberian experience may find parallels in history, the description above points to barbarity in modern times which by all standards are repugnant to the human conscience.

Reference 9 - 0.04% Coverage

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55 with the added perception of male superiority. This rendered women and girls extremely vulnerable to exploitation and violence during both war and peace. It has also taken into account the multiplicity and complexity of women’s roles in the armed conflict, recognizing that women took on the added roles of perpetrator, collaborator as well as peacemaker and mediator.

Reference 12 - 0.03% Coverage